News 2/23/16

Top News

CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt calls for a simplification of MACRA during his remarks at AMA’s National Advocacy Conference, highlighting four principles that will guide the work of CMS in coming months:

• Rewarding providers for outcomes rather than utilization alone.
• Giving physicians the ability to customize goals, which will in turn cause vendors to become more user-centered.
• Leveling the technology playing field to promote innovation by unlocking electronic health information through open APIs.
• Prioritizing interoperability by implementing interoperability standards and focusing on real-world uses of technology.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Don’t forget to check out HIStalk’s guide to HIMSS16. With 100-plus vendors, you’re bound to find an interesting product demo, networking event, or cool giveaway to pursue in Las Vegas.

Webinars

February 24 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Is Big Data a Big Deal … or Not?” Sponsored by Health Catalyst. Presenter: Dale Sanders, EVP of product development, Health Catalyst. Hadoop is the most powerful and popular technology platform for data analysis in the world, but healthcare adoption has been slow. This webinar will cover why healthcare leaders should care about Hadoop, why big data is a bigger deal outside of healthcare, whether we’re missing the IT boat yet again, and how the cloud reduces adoption barriers by commoditizing the skilled labor impact.

February 25 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “Clinical Analytics for Population Health: Straddling Two Worlds.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Brian Murphy, lead analyst, Chilmark Research; Jody Ranck, senior analyst, Chilmark Research. The Chilmark Research clinical analytics team will be sharing some of their key findings from the recently released “2016 Clinical Analytics for Population Health Market Trends” report. This will be followed by a Q&A session to make sure everyone goes to HIMSS16 well informed.

“CDs are hard to kill.” Today’s LifeImage webinar on medical image sharing strategies featured some great insight for physician practices, who just can’t seem to let go of portable media. You can check out the Twitter recap here.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

ITelagen adds NextGen Electronic Data Interchange to its IT and EHR support and hosting services.

Physician practice technology firm MBS/Net merges with Medsphere Systems, which will add MBS/Net’s offerings to its product line for acute and inpatient behavioral health settings. MBS/Net will keep its name and operate as a division of Medsphere.

Announcements and Implementations

Aprima Medical Software adds a Spanish-language option to its patient portal and mobile app for physicians.

Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients (CRISP) implements eHealth Connect Image Exchange from EHealth Technologies across the state of Maryland. The CRISP HIE also serves organizations in Washington, DC.

The EHR Association publishes the second version of its EHR Developer Code of Conduct. First created in 2013, the new code includes sections on the role of user-centered design, and usability best practices; as well as updated sections on patient engagement, privacy and security, and interoperability and data sharing.

ReelDx makes its Medvid.io video management platform commercially available.  The technology, which debuted in beta last year at HIMSS, enables developers to offer HIPAA-compliant video creation, storage, and sharing.

OptimizeRx integrates TrialCard’s prescription coupon and co-pay offerings into its EHR technology.

Telemedicine

Grace’s Way Recovery (FL) joins The MAP Recovery Network, an alliance of addiction treatment providers that collects outcomes data on their discharged patients and reports the rates of treatment success. Membership will enable Grace’s Way to take advantage of several post-treatment resources, including telemedicine.

Government and Politics

OIG releases an 84-page case study of CMS management of Healthcare.gov, the result of a two-year inquiry into the much-maligned federal insurance exchange. The report, which includes interviews with 86 employees of HHS, plus thousands of emails, memos, and internal documents, concludes that mismanagement by federal health officials rather than the poor work of IT contractors was the cause of its disastrous roll out and subsequent rocky road.

ONC Director Steve Posnack introduces the ONC Tech Lab, which will work with ONC’s Health IT Certification Program to provide stakeholders with “common connection points to ONC’s standards and technology efforts.” The lab will focus on standards coordination, testing and utilities, pilots of standards, and innovation. It will also serve as the conduit for any remaining ONC-supported Standards & Interoperability Framework initiatives.

Other

This is ridiculous: Oral-B debuts what could be the most complicated toothbrush on the planet. The “Genius” uses motion sensor technology, your smartphone, and an accompanying app to determine if you’re brushing all of your teeth properly. It even comes with a lighting system to help you get into the tooth-brushing mood.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 2/22/16

Top News

Husband-and-wife team Jake Anderson and Deborah Anderson-Bialis launch FertilityIQ, a self-funded, Yelp-like review site for fertility doctors. Born out of their frustrating quest to find their own physician, the site includes reviews of over 400 clinics and 1,000 doctors. Unlike Yelp, members must answer a detailed questionnaire and submit proof that they were patients of the clinic they’d like to review. The founders don’t plan on charging listing fees or seeking ad revenue.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Check out what HIStalk Practice sponsors are doing at HIMSS with our online (and printable) guide. It lists everything from giveaways to educational presentations. I’m particularly tempted to stop by those that are incorporating charitable giving into their HIMSS show-floor marketing. For those sponsors who aren’t exhibiting, it includes their contact information for scheduling a meeting. Thanks for supporting the companies that support HIStalk Practice.

Webinars

February 23 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Completing your EMR with a Medical Image Sharing Strategy.” Sponsored by LifeImage. Presenters: Don K. Dennison, consultant; Jim Forrester, director of imaging informatics, UR Medicine. Care coordination can suffer without an effective, cost-efficient way to share images across provider networks. Consolidating image management systems into a single platform such as VNA or PACS doesn’t address the need to exchange images with external organizations. This webinar will address incorporating the right image sharing methods into your health IT strategy.

February 24 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Is Big Data a Big Deal … or Not?” Sponsored by Health Catalyst. Presenter: Dale Sanders, EVP of product development, Health Catalyst. Hadoop is the most powerful and popular technology platform for data analysis in the world, but healthcare adoption has been slow. This webinar will cover why healthcare leaders should care about Hadoop, why big data is a bigger deal outside of healthcare, whether we’re missing the IT boat yet again, and how the cloud reduces adoption barriers by commoditizing the skilled labor impact.

February 25 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “Clinical Analytics for Population Health: Straddling Two Worlds.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Brian Murphy, lead analyst, Chilmark Research; Jody Ranck, senior analyst, Chilmark Research. The Chilmark Research clinical analytics team will be sharing some of their key findings from the recently released “2016 Clinical Analytics for Population Health Market Trends” report. This will be followed by a Q&A session to make sure everyone goes to HIMSS16 well informed.

Announcements and Implementations

Marshfield Clinic Information Systems deploys its EHR technology on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

The US Oncology Network partners with McKesson Specialty Health to develop a program that will help oncologists prepare for new value-based payment models. Program activities will include enhancing technology to meet the new CMS Oncology Care Model, expanding analytics capabilities, and building OCM-friendly tools that require no extra clicks.

The nonprofit South Carolina Office of Rural Health selects RCM and PM software from Azalea Health.

Family Health Care of Siouxland (IA) rolls out check-in tablets from Phreesia, which the chain of clinics is also using to offer patients a nine-question depression screening in line with U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommendations that PCPs screen all adults for the condition.

MedAccess Urgent Care (NC) beta tests Clockwise.md’s online check-in and client management system at its Youngsville Clinic.

Direct Urgent Care implements mobile EHR software from DrChrono at its new facility in Mountain View, CA.

Entrada adds speech recognition technology from Raytheon BBN Technologies to its cloud-based clinical documentation software.

NextGen integrates ScImage’s PICOM365 Enterprise PACS into its ambulatory EHR.

People

Former Teladoc CEO Michael Gorton (Principal Solar) joins Cariloop’s advisory board.

William Febbo (Merriman Capital) joins OptimizeRx as CEO.

Emily Hartmann joins the Paso del Norte HIE as deputy director.

Telemedicine

ATA opens registration for its annual conference and tradeshow, taking place May 14-17 in Minneapolis. Register by April 15 and you’ll save about $150. Keynote speakers include executives from ATA, AHA, AMA, and MIT Media Lab.

The Missouri Senate approves SB 681, which outlines the oversight, utilization, and reimbursement of telemedicine (specifically a home telemonitoring program) for MO HealthNet/Medicaid participants.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

LBMC expands its Physician Solutions Business, providing EHR, PM, and RCM services for physicians and mid-level providers on a larger scale. The Nashville-based company launched its physician-oriented arm last August.

Other

AMA President Steven Stack, MD puts utilization of state prescription drug monitoring programs at the top of his list of suggestions for combatting the opioid epidemic. “Not every PDMP is perfect,” he adds, “but they provide important information that can help us when considering whether to prescribe a controlled substance for a particular patient.”

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 2/21/16

Kennedy Health (NJ) promotes Anthony Wehbe, DO to chief population health executive.

Dallas-based Viverae expands the conditions covered under its disease management program for employers to 22, including asthma, obesity, and sleep apnea. The company is best known for its MyViverae app, which integrates third-party claims and member health data to personalize wellness programs.

Partners in Care (NJ) chooses Wellcentive’s population health management solution.

Harbor Health Services (MA) – the first community health center in the US – selects Simbiote’s automation technology for risk stratification, care monitoring, and real-time, point-of-care alerts.

Virginia Care Partners implements population health management services from Humana subsidiary Transcend to better manage its Medicare Advantage patients.

Kindred Healthcare partners with Inovalon and its Avalere subsidiary to create data-based care management tools that will help it risk-stratify patients, determine post-acute sites of service, develop evidence-based care pathways and outcomes, and set up affordable pricing models.

Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics (TX) selects VitreosHealth’s analytics technology for its population health management initiatives.

Barnabas Health (NJ), East Texas Medical Center (TX), and Stanford Children’s Health (CA) select Orion Health’s Rhapsody Integration Engine.

Equation adds CentraForce Health’s population health intelligence data to its DataRiver healthcare analytics software.

Evolution Health implements SAS analytics tools to better enable its physicians to assess care coordination costs for an episode of care, and to more easily view and understand patient and operational data. Evolution Health is the physician practice arm of Greenwood Village, CO-based Envision Healthcare, which delivers a range of healthcare offerings including medical transportation and facility based physician services.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic publishes a new white paper, “Finding Your Balance: Applying Supply and Demand to Health IT for Growth and Efficiency.”
• Intelligent Medical Objects exhibits at HackIllinois February 19-21 in Champaign-Urbana.
• Nordic releases a new HIT Breakdown podcast, “Chronic care management from three perspectives.”

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.

News 2/18/16

Top News

Complete P.T., Pool & Land Physical Therapy (CA) pays a $25,000 fine to HHS to settle HIPAA violations stemming from testimonials posted to its website without HIPAA-compliant patient permission. The practice must also adopt a corrective action plan and report on its compliance efforts for one year.

Webinars

February 23 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Completing your EMR with a Medical Image Sharing Strategy.” Sponsored by LifeImage. Presenters: Don K. Dennison, consultant; Jim Forrester, director of imaging informatics, UR Medicine. Care coordination can suffer without an effective, cost-efficient way to share images across provider networks. Consolidating image management systems into a single platform such as VNA or PACS doesn’t address the need to exchange images with external organizations. This webinar will address incorporating the right image sharing methods into your health IT strategy.

February 24 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Is Big Data a Big Deal … or Not?” Sponsored by Health Catalyst. Presenter: Dale Sanders, EVP of product development, Health Catalyst. Hadoop is the most powerful and popular technology platform for data analysis in the world, but healthcare adoption has been slow. This webinar will cover why healthcare leaders should care about Hadoop, why big data is a bigger deal outside of healthcare, whether we’re missing the IT boat yet again, and how the cloud reduces adoption barriers by commoditizing the skilled labor impact.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Forefront Dermatology secures a $47 million second lien debt and equity investment from Penfund in support of Forefront’s acquisition by Omers Private Equity. Manitowoc, WI-based Forefront provides PM services to Dermatology Associates of Wisconsin, operating over 80 clinics across 11 states.

People

Medfusion promotes Kimberly Labow to CEO.

Gerald “Jerry” Peters (Latham & Watkins) joins Cal Index as general counsel.

Radiologic Associates of Fredericksburg (VA) promotes Chris Snyder to practice administrator for Virginia Medical Imaging and Virginia Interventional & Vascular Associates, and appoints Aatif Rahman to director of technical services for Virginia Medical Imaging.

Announcements and Implementations

M&M Chiropractic and Wellness (MI) selects EHR, PM, and RCM technology from IPatientCare.

Windward Urgent Care (HI) implements chronic care management technology from ChronicCareIQ. Matt Ethington, founder and CEO of the Atlanta-based startup, also founded SimplifyMD in 2006, which merge with Azalea Health in 2014.

GeniusDoc integrates document management technology from Updox into its EHR and PM software for hematologists and oncologists.

ITelagen adds PhoneTree’s HealthWave Connect patient-reminder system to its EHR deployment and support services for physician practices.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine-based concierge services provider Patronus Medical integrates BaseHealth’s health assessment engine into its health and wellness plan. The integration will also enable Patronus physicians to create personalized action plans for their patients, set goals, track achievements, and identify emerging trends at the individual and population level.

INeuro Headache Specialist (VA) rolls out a virtual diagnosis service for headache and nerve pain.

Chicago-based startup Opternative raises a $6 million Series A round led by Jump Capital. The company, which has developed an eye-exam and prescription delivery app for consumers between 18 and 40, operates in 33 states. It will use the venture funding to expand the app’s capabilities and age range.

Other

Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean kisses can’t still be exchanged: A new study finds that cohabitating couples share more than gestures of affection; their immune systems become remarkably similar, too. Researchers attribute the phenomenon to the convergence of diet, alcohol intake, and exercise routines, as well as exposure to pollution and infections. Even a couple’s microbiomes become more similar. Fun fact: A 10-second kiss is a conduit for exchanging 80 million bacteria of about 300 species.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Contact us online.
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Readers Write: From Complacency to Compliance – How Physician Coder Training Systems Evolve in Light of ICD-10

From Complacency to Compliance: How Physician Coder Training Systems Evolve in Light of ICD-10
By Daria Bonner and Philip Miles

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

This famous quote by Abraham Lincoln is relevant in our day-to-day experiences, and it’s particularly relevant in healthcare. More specifically, you can’t make ICD-10 go away by simply refusing to learn it. The realities of medical necessity, denied claims, and OIG fines impact all practices and physicians. The days of nonchalant coding in physician practices are gone. Little by little, practices are realizing the importance of accurate and complete coding. They’re also recognizing the need for certified medical coders as part of an integrated professional practice team.

The Tides are Turning
Welcome to a new era of coding where compliance programs, established coding guidelines, and clinical coder certifications are the norm. And these demands for better coding don’t stop at ICD-10. All physician coding practices are prime for improvement, including CPT and E&M. Many practices are under an incorrect assumption that the grace period announced by CMS and the AMA in July 2015 lets them completely off the hook in terms of ICD-10 specificity. In reality, codes submitted from physician practices must still be accurate. The only flexibility is with retrospective audits, denials, and fines — for now.

Effective October 1, 2016, the grace period will end, and all providers will likely see an increase in denials for medical necessity and nonspecific codes. All sites of service, including hospitals, may be affected. Note that pre-payment audits require specificity even during the grace period. Many providers are seeing denials related to these audits now. As a result, coder training and certification within physician practices must evolve and improve. Having certified coders on staff propels coding initiatives and helps drive stronger compliance. Many medical groups have already employed certified medical coders to:

• Navigate the complexities of ICD-10.
• Establish practice-specific coding guidelines and a coding compliance program.
• Support clinical documentation improvement (CDI) efforts.
• Team-up with IT for stronger EHR data integrity and information governance.
• Fine-tune EHR documentation templates for ICD-10.

The first step is to recruit, hire, and retain a certified coder. Keeping your certified coder credentialed and continually educated in a rapidly changing medical practice is next. Quality coder training is an essential operational cost — and one that can’t be ignored.

Technology’s Role in Coder Training
Traditionally, coders travelled to coding conferences for credentialing, updates, and continuing education. However, sending coders offsite has become cost prohibitive for many medical groups and physician practices for three reasons:

• Travel costs sometimes exceed registration for the actual training event.
• Cases pile up and billing stalls when coders are out of the office.
• Backlogged coding disrupts cash flow during a time when practices are particularly vulnerable to ICD-10 denials and payment delays.

Online/virtual coder training systems are rising up to meet this need. That’s because many online learning management systems (LMS) not only offer coders a quality education, but also yield significant cost savings for practices.

A Five-Point Technology Checklist

Aside from the cost of the LMS itself, the only other ongoing cost is effective Internet virus protection. This protection allows coders to access Web browsers and online platforms without the added risk of inadvertently downloading a virus. Most practices have already invested in this software. Another benefit is the pace and format of online coder training. The sky is the limit in terms of online/virtual training developments — particularly in the physician practice market.

Educators continue to explore and enhance virtual options that mirror a live classroom environment, providing a more hands-on experience. Many of these online/virtual options are also self-paced, meaning a coder can move through certain portions of the course more quickly and spend more time focusing on content that seems unfamiliar or challenging.

If you’re going to invest in an LMS, there are key capabilities to include. Consider the following top six characteristics of an effective LMS:

1. Functional and elegant user interface.
2. Efficient and effective back-end (underlying program).
3. No additional software or systems to access the LMS.
4. Simulated “live setting” so students feel as though they’re physically in a classroom setting.
5. Constant feedback mechanisms regarding grades and/or progress.
6. Ability to provide certification.

To maximize effectiveness, practice managers or instructors using the LMS should also be able to complete these tasks:

• Import and segment groups of students.
• Interact with the entire group, a subgroup, or an individual student.
• Update and amend content in real time.
• Allow students to communicate with each other.
• Offer multiple learning modalities.

Credibility Powers Productivity

Beyond the technical and instructor-specific capabilities listed above, training options should be evaluated for their credibility. There is a whole host of online courses for clinical coding in physician practices. It’s important to ensure that each coder obtains high-quality training catered to his or her unique learning style. Use the following checklist to vet coding trainers and find the best solution for your practice:

• Does the instructor hold any credentials? If so, which ones?
• What is the instructor’s educational and professional background? What other courses has he or she taught?
• Is the course backed by an accredited organization? If so, which one?
• Are any prerequisites required?
• What experience do students need before taking the course?
• What type of access will students have to the instructor?
• How much time, on average, will students spend interacting with the LMS daily or weekly?
• What are the goals of the course, and do these goals meet coder expectations?
• Will the course be offered according to a specific schedule?
• What’s the cost of the course, and are payment plans available?

Coding Content is King
When evaluating coder training options, practices also need to focus on content. Today’s physician practice coders require training on a variety of topics, including clinical documentation improvement, coding, auditing, and compliance. Physician practice coders also want to be cross-trained in inpatient and outpatient coding, and they want to learn more about other types of specialized coding. This includes HCC coding and coding for home health and other settings that have become targets for the federal government. Ensure that any LMS you choose includes educational components for each of these areas.

Consult with your coders to ensure the LMS is worthwhile and will ultimately help staff be more productive and compliant. Remember that anyone can create an online training program. Look for a credible source, ask questions, and get references before making a final decision. Now is the time to level-up coder training systems, programs, and coder certification in physician practices — starting with your own.

Daria Bonner is CEO of Xact Healthcare Solutions in Port St. Lucie, FL. Phillip Miles is the owner of The Medical Management Institute in Alpharetta, GA.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.